Summer Reading List: 12 Books Can Help You Change the World

by Greg Satell

Most of the year is pretty hectic. There are meetings, projects and meeting about projects and then maybe a conference call to discuss the next project. With all the running around, it’s hard to find any time to actually think. Summer is a welcome respite from all of the frenzy and hubbub.

While you’re finding some time to relax at the beach or somewhere else, you may get to thinking about things you don’t like in your organization, your industry or in society as a whole and how much you want things to change. After stewing for awhile, you might even get the urge to do something about it.

Of course, as I explain in my TED Talk change isn’t easy. You have to win people to your cause, motivate them to actively participate and overcome entrenched interests. That takes more than just passion, but also strategy, organization and discipline. So for this summer’s list, I’ve got a list of 12 books that will show you how to do all that and truly change the world.

In 1998, a group of student activists in Serbia set out to bring down Slobodan Milošević’s brutal regime. Two years later, the Belgrade strongman was out, but their movement, called Otpor! (Resist! In Serbian) lived on. They created the Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS)to train activists in other countries, such as Georgia, Ukraine and Egypt.

This book, written by the Executive Director of CANVAS and Co-Founder of Otpor, is part autobiography and part instruction manual. Popović tells personal stories of his work in Serbia’s “Bulldozer Revolution” and training activists around the globe. It’s powerful, insightful and surprisingly funny.

If you are an aspiring changemaker and read only one book this summer, make it this one:

Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal, Tantum Collins, David Silverman and Chris Fussell

In 2004, General Stanley McChrystal commanded the greatest fighting force in history, with the most highly trained commandos, the most sophisticated technology and the most destructive weapons. Still, while they were winning every battle in Iraq, they were losing the war. They were fighting an enemy that they couldn’t comprehend, much less predict.

McChrystal began to understand that the problem wasn’t of resources or even of strategy, but that of agility and interoperability. He also saw that in order to defeat a network, his forces had to become a network. So the General set out to widen and deepen connections between the individual units under his command and transform them into a “team of teams.”

In the 1970s, Route 128 outside of Boston was the center of the technological universe. With firms like DEC and Data General, it looked poised to dominate the nascent computer industry. Its success led to the “Massachusetts Miracle” that helped propel Michael Dukakis to a Presidential candidacy. But by the late 80’s, the mantle had passed to Silicon Valley.

In this meticulously researched book, AnnaLee Saxenian explains why. While Route 128 was focused on the success of individual firms, Silicon Valley fostered an ecosystem that proved, and continues to prove to this day, to be a constant driver of change in the world of technology and beyond. Written over 20 years ago, this book stands the test of time.

Any movement for change is dependent on networks. Whether it is building networks of protesters to bring down a dictator, networking silos in your organization or building industrial ecosystems to create a regional advantage. If you want to understand how to create change, the first step is to understand networks.

Written by a pioneer in network science, Six Degrees explains the basic concepts in this fascinating and highly readable book. Watts not only brings pathbreaking insight, but is also a talented storyteller and brings the ideas to life with vivid examples and case studies. He somehow manages to make cutting edge science fun and enjoyable

Often called “the conscience of the U.S. Congress” John Lewis is a paragon of moral courage and common sense. In this engrossing book, he traces his past from a childhood as a dirt-poor sharecropper’s son, to leadership in the “Nashville Movement” and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as one of the “Big Six” of civil rights.

The book is incredibly candid about not only the incredible victories in securing civil rights, but also his doubts and frustrations. Perhaps most importantly, it shows how important it is for revolutionaries to also take responsibility for governance after the major battles have been won. It’s rare that you find a book that’s so interesting, instructive and inspiring.

Saul Alinsky practically invented community organizing. Published in 1971, at the height of the counterculture, when other revolutionaries staged sit-ins or advocated violence, Alinsky pushed for creating institutions and winning small, incremental victories. He argued that it was not only conflict, but also a sense of community, that makes change happen.

Considered a classic today, Rules for Radicals provides a blueprint for anyone who wants to make a difference in their community, their industry and throughout society. Although considered to be a left wing icon, its influence has been so great that it was used as an operating manual for the conservative Tea Party movement that emerged after the financial crisis in 2009.

The Tea Party has undoubtedly been one of the most powerful political movements of our time. Emerging seemingly out of nowhere, it quickly became a force to be reckoned with in American society, driving policy decisions through effective campaigning at a grassroots level. Few political movements have won such pervasive influence so quickly.

Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson, both academics at Harvard, spent a year researching the Tea Party, analyzing demographics and conducting extensive interviews with activists. The result is a penetrating study that breaks stereotypes and brings understanding to this quintessential 21st century phenomenon.

On the other end of the political spectrum, liberal activists Mark Engler and Paul Engler provide extensive background from historical figures such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King as well as insights from recent movements such as Occupy and Black Lives Matter. Thoroughly researched, it provides a great overview of how movements succeed — and fail.

This one isn’t for everybody and the authors take no great pains to conceal their political bias. Still, if you’re looking for a far reaching review of both contemporary and historical movements, as well as the academic literature that helps drive them, you can’t do much better than this book.

During the Poland’s Solidarity movement in 1982, a boycott was organized against the government’s propaganda-laden evening news. The problem with the boycott was obvious. How do you show others that you’re not watching TV?

The residents of Świdnik, a small city near Lublin, found a way. Instead of watching the news at 7:30, they all went for an evening walk, many carrying their TV sets in carriages and wheelbarrows. Before long, the practice spread to other Polish cities and the boycott turned into a rousing success.

You’ll be amazed at all the ingenious ways to that activists think up to defy the powers oppose them in this delightful book. It’s amazingly instructive, as well as a lot of fun!

For all the scholarship and theorizing that has been focused on social movements and what it takes to create transformational change, there is no substitute for a first hand account. These autobiographies by three famous icons are candid, insightful and wonderful reads.

So that’s my list for this summer. I hope you found a few that peaked your interest. Also, as a special bonus, here’s my TED talk about my personal experience with revolution and how I learned about changing the world.

Wait! Before you go…

Greg Satell is a popular speaker and consultant. His first book, Mapping Innovation:A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age, is coming out in 2017. Follow his blog at Digital Tonto or on Twitter @Digital Tonto.